In The Trenches – Lessons Learned Building Tech Teams In The Gaming Industry

Posted on 2nd August 2017

It’s forecasted that the global games business will grow to $108.9 billion this year with mobile devices being the most lucrative segment.

It’s expected mobile gaming will grow by 19% ($46.1 billion) which will represent 42% of the gaming market.

If mobile continues to grow at this rate (and there are no signs of it slowing!) it will represent over half the games market by 2020. Incredible!

With this impressive growth comes many challenges for gaming studios. Attracting and engaging top tech talent being one of those key challenges.

Collectively, we’ve helped scale some of the world’s most exciting gaming studios.

For over 4 years we’ve worked with the likes of Space Ape Games, Supercell and MAG Interactive.

We’ve completed 230 hires for 8 different clients across 7 locations!

It’s safe to say that over the years we’ve got our hands dirty. We’ve been in the trenches.

All of this experience and exposure has taught us key lessons that not everyone necessarily gets access or knowledge to.

Today, our Principals share what they’ve learned when it comes to building tech teams for some of the best gaming studios in the world.

Lesson 1: It’s important for any gaming studio to consider relocating candidates when they grow to a certain size.

More often than not Gaming Studios will look to hire the best Game Developers and Artists from their local talent pool and near by competitors.

By staying local, businesses reduce their talent pool significantly and may face more obstacles (i.e counter offers) when recruiting.

Some of the best talent may not be a ‘stone’s throw’ away from the studio but will be worth relocating to gain a competitive advantage.

Lesson 2: The brand of the business is really important.

Even if a game has performed amazingly well on the app store, it doesn’t necessarily mean candidates will instantly connect your business name to the game!

A strong brand tells a story of the business and marketing that story will really help elevate the gaming studio above their competition when hiring.

Lesson 3: Before the hiring process begins, everybody who will be involved in the recruitment process should have an interview briefing.

This is so everyone can align themselves to what should be evaluated when interviewing each candidate.

By having a set evaluation, the recruitment process can operate smoother and efficiently. Allowing decisions to be made swiftly and ensuring top talent is not lost to a competitor.

With the industry growing so fast the best talent will become harder and harder to attract.

Be sure to remember these key lessons as well as making sure the people you bring in fit culturally too.

As well as focusing on bringing in the best tech talent, be sure to retain your current super stars by treating them well, bringing new technology and listening to their new ideas. It’s a competitive market, make sure you keep your assets!

We work with high growth gaming studios to ensure they hire the best staff for their companies and their environments. We work with you, on site, as part of your team. We’ve helped to build teams for Supercell, Klarna, Farmdrop and more. If you’d like help building your team, get in touch here .